Growth in Asia and the Pacific outperformed expectations in late 2023, reaching 5.0 percent for the year. Inflation has continued to decline, albeit at varying speeds: some economies are still seeing sustained price pressures, while others are facing deflationary risks.In 2024, growth is projected to slow modestly to 4.5 percent. …
Compounding the damage from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has magnified the slowdown in the global economy, which is entering what could become a protracted period of feeble growth and elevated inflation, according to the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report. This raises the risk of …
Air pollution in Malaysia is caused by emissions from a growing number of sources from industrial manufacturing, power generation, vehicles, and open burning activities. Additionally, biomass burning and forest fires in the country and in neighbouring countries contribute to the seasonal transboundary haze incidents that often cause a spike in …
Cycling has significant economic benefits—for individuals, cities, and society—and functions as a low-cost, high-yield, scalable solution to climate and equity issues. Investments in cycling infrastructure also create jobs and opportunities to expand existing industries or develop new ones. While many cities have seen firsthand the benefits of investing in infrastructure …
The Macro Poverty Outlook (MPO) analyzes macroeconomic and poverty developments in 47 developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The report is released twice annually for the Spring and Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund. The MPO consists of individual country notes that provide an overview …
The 8th edition of the Mozambique Economic Update (MEU): Getting Agricultural Support Right focuses its analysis on the potential offered by agriculture to promote a sustainable and more inclusive recovery, and outlines reform options to realign agricultural support policies to achieve competitiveness, climate resilience and food security objectives. In its …
Kenya managed to contain the health and economic impacts of multiple Coronavirus (COVID-19) waves in 2021, helped by targeted containment measures and progress on vaccination, but is now facing a potentially large economic shock from the war in Ukraine. One sector is critical to achieving Kenya’s development goals, accounts for …
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has set back the economy and fiscal balances of Sierra Leone, which are now further impacted by the war in Ukraine. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth turned negative in 2020, while the government’s efforts to reduce the fiscal deficit were undermined by the need for …
The theme of the 2022 African Economic Outlook is Supporting Climate Resilience and a Just Energy Transition in Africa. Despite having 17% of the current global population, Africa has accounted for a negligible 3% of cumulative worldwide CO2 emissions historically. However, climate change and extreme weather events disproportionately affect Africa, …
The war in Ukraine has triggered a costly humanitarian crisis that demands a peaceful resolution. At the same time, economic damage from the conflict will contribute to a significant slowdown in global growth in 2022 and add to inflation. Fuel and food prices have increased rapidly, hitting vulnerable populations in …
Meeting India’s short- and long-term climate commitments made at COP26 entails a complete economic transformation, which can have considerable developmental tradeoffs. Many long-term energy and climate models that project low-carbon pathways for the country consider the gross domestic product (GDP) to be exogenously driving growth in various sectors. However, low-carbon …
Employment in countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has grown one percent per year on average within private sector firms, which is much lower than the five percent average among other middle-income peers. In addition, the female labor force participation rate of 20% is the lowest in …
Macroeconomic impacts caused by climate change may create significant credit, market, and operational risks for financial institutions. Considering these risks, many firms are beginning to explore the integration of macroeconomic impacts into climate scenario analysis. To advance financial industry knowledge on this important topic, UNEP FI and UK-based National Institute …
The Southeast Asia Energy Outlook 2022 is the fifth edition of this World Energy Outlook Special Report. Building on its important partnership with Southeast Asia, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has published these studies on a regular basis since 2013. The studies offer insightful prospects for the ten member countries …
Sub-Saharan Africa is uniquely positioned significantly increase its current agricultural productivity to lift the region’s more than 400 million people out of extreme poverty and improve the livelihood of approximately 250 million smallholder farmers and pastoralists in the region. To achieve that, substantive digital transformation of the agriculture sector is …
The war in Ukraine has triggered a costly humanitarian crisis that demands a peaceful resolution. At the same time, economic damage from the conflict will contribute to a significant slowdown in global growth in 2022 and add to inflation. Fuel and food prices have increased rapidly, hitting vulnerable populations in …
Economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are expected to grow by 5.2% in 2022, the fastest rate since 2016, on the back of oil-price windfalls benefitting the region’s oil exporters. But heightened uncertainty surrounds this forecast due to the war in Ukraine and ongoing threats from …
South Asia’s growth rate has returned to pre-pandemic levels. However, the uneven recovery from the pandemic has left countries in South Asia with multiple policy challenges, which are exacerbated by the impact of the war in Ukraine. While several countries are navigating rising inflation and growing difficulties to finance fiscal …
Amid continuing uncertainty over the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic and increased global risks, the region’s economic recovery and progress must be anchored in “a new social contract” of inclusiveness to protect the vulnerable from future shocks, according to the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific for …
Developing countries still have to regain lost ground from the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has put more countries at risk of debt distress, constrained their fiscal space and hampered economic growth. The war in Ukraine is exacerbating all these challenges. In this context, the 2022 Financing for Sustainable Development Report …
The 7th Malawi National Human Development Report with the theme, “Delivering Sustainable Human Development and Accountability at the Local Level – The Experience of Decentralization in Malawi," aims to promote district focused approach to human development, by proposing policies and strategies for strengthening local governance structures in the development process, …
